Mother Angelica on Suffering and Burnout

by Mother Angelica

Interior suffering can be more purifying than any other form of pain because we are forced to cope with it. We can distract ourselves and forget a sprained ankle, but when dryness, weariness, sadness, worry, and fear assail us, they hound us wherever we go. We must understand why God permits this interior suffering, for at first glance it would seem life provides enough pain to sanctify us. Daily trials and even physical pain are somehow outside of us, but interior pain, be it spiritual or mental, is deep within and forces us to be patient and practice virtue. Interior trials sanctify us slowly because they have the power to change us for the better. It is in the soul, in our personality and temperament, that change must occur if we are to reflect the image of Jesus. We may have cancer and be healed, but never change. We may triumph over some disagreeable situation, but never change, but when our pain is inside our soul and we cooperate with God’s Grace in using it, then it has the power to change us. It is in our souls that God does His most magnificent work. The world may look upon the aged, the sick, and the retarded with sympathy, but God’s work in their souls, through the power of interior suffering, is doing a greater work than when He created the universe. Only in eternity shall we see the beauty of the soul, and only then shall we realize what great things were accomplished by interior suffering. We can be sure that: Dryness makes us patient as we seek to love God ...